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STICK-A 
PLAYS • 



BY RCHARLES \ 
STUART PRATT 









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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/stickandpeaplaysOOprat 




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AT PLAY WITH STICKS AND PEAS, 



STICK-AND-PEA PLAYS 



Pastimes for the Children's Year 



by r 

CHARLES STUART PRATT 

AUTHOR OF 

" BUZ-BUZ," " LITTLE PETERKIN VANDIKE," 

" BYE-O-BABY BALLADS," " BABY'S LULLABY BOOK," 

ETC. 



Seventy working designs by the Author, 

together with other illustrations, 

drawn by H. P. Barnes 



BOSTON 
LOTHROP PUBLISHING COMPANY 



QVI2.o$ 
7P3\ 



38453 



Copyright, i8qq, 

BY 

Lothrop Publishing Company. 



fWOCOPIFS SSCSIVEO. 




CCoIontal ^nss : 

Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co. 

goston, U. S. A. 






To 

the readers 6f u Buz-Buz" 

and to 

all my. friends among the children, 

I dedicate 

this book of plays. 

C. S. P. 



. . . the wise educator . . . devotes the first years of educa- 
tion to training in construction and to object teaching. 

Professor William James. 



NOTE. 

( To Parents and Teachers^ 

WHAT sort of play is the best sort of house- 
play for the child ? 

If I could ask the mothers and fathers and 
teachers who think about such things, I should 
expect a reply somewhat like this : The best sort 
of house-play for the child is a play the child takes 
to naturally ; a play the child can play largely by 
itself ; a play that calls out the child's activities, 
trains the hand, educates the eye, exercises the 
judgment, stirs the imagination — and gives pleas- 
ure all the while ; a play that yields something to 
take, to hold, to keep, to use ; a play that leads 
readily to talks, and stories, and songs, with a 
beautiful lesson at the heart of them. 

Perhaps the first play-instinct of the child, when 
the little brain begins to think and the little hands 
to do, is in the making of mimic objects and the 
make-believe use of them. But the child is not 
merely imitative. The child is a Robinson Crusoe 
and a " Swiss Family Robinson " all in one. The 
child adapts the thing at hand to the need of the 
moment, to any end desired. The child is inventive 



Vi NOTE. 

and creative. The child's quick imagination makes 
the play-object more real to itself than the real 
object is to the adult. 

Some time ago, I had occasion to devise a series 
of easy amusements for children — plays, house-plays, 
which should be educational pastimes as well as enter- 
taining occupations. With the above considerations 
in view, Froebel's " Nineteenth Gift " (the ninth of 
the "Occupations") — that of sticks and peas' — 
was chosen as a promising point of departure. 

In developing the stick-and-pea motive, I worked 
along picturesque lines, largely with familiar objects 
which appeal to both the practical and the play 
instincts of the child. It seemed evident that in 
making these varied and picturesque play-objects — 
objects which mean something, which have part in 
the activities of life, as children know life — there 
would be the same good results as come from con- 
structing triangles and squares or prisms and cubes, 
along with others as good. It seemed evident that 
there would be the same manual training; a like 
education of eye and exercise of judgment, in exact 
measuring and cutting, in proper fitting together ; a 
building of things as lasting, more usable, and so 
more interesting ; a larger development of the imag- 
ination, especially along ways of inquiry, invention, 
and practical application ; and that, withal, making 
the work attractive and the education unconscious, 
there would be the pleasure-giving of real play. 



NOTE. vii 

The reception of these plays during their magazine 
publication goes to support this position. 

By experiments and observations on the part of 
the child, described in the opening paragraphs of 
Parts II. to VII., and illustrated in the initial pic- 
tures, I have endeavored to make vivid the succes- 
sive stages in the life-history of the pea — and so, 
really, in the life-history of all " green things grow- 
ing." Along with the working directions, too, and 
the intentionally informing passages, I have, in a 
spirit of playful comradery with the child, thrown 
in many hints to open up fresh possibilities of 
pleasure in the objects made. 

This little book, which has resulted from the 
magazine series of stick-and-pea plays, is designed 
primarily for the home, as a handy help to mothers 
and fathers in amusing their nursery folk — and a 
still handier help to children in amusing themselves. 
Should it also find a place in kindergartens and 
schools for little children, I shall be the more 
gratified. 

For convenience of grouping, I have arranged the 
plays to follow in a measure the cycle of the child's 
year — with special reference to holidays — though 
obviously the plays thus grouped for a particular 
month may be played in any month, or in all months. 

The illustrations showing objects as made of 
sticks and peas are referred to in the working 
directions as " pictures." Others, showing minor 



viii NOTE. 

objects or parts of the more complex objects rather 
as diagrams, by single lines and black spots, are 
referred to as " plans." 

When the children have mastered the making of 
the simpler objects here pictured and described, 
they should be encouraged to work independently 
— to make other simple objects " all by themselves." 
A good way is first to make a pencil drawing of the 
object, in dots and lines, and then build it of sticks 
and peas. . The drawing obliges the child to see all 
parts of the object, and to observe and judge of the 
lengths and directions of the parts. The building 
is then comparatively easy. 

Parents and teachers may make the plays the 
occasion for little talks and little lessons. The 
stick-and-pea objects will suggest the topics. They 
will find many hints to this end also in books on 
Froebel's " Gifts " and " Occupations " — notably in 
that admirable exposition of the kindergarten sys- 
tem, " The Republic of Childhood," by Kate Doug- 
lass Wiggin and Nora Archibald Smith. These 
authors mention, for instance, the reading of nature- 
stories while the child is observing the growth of 
the pea — such as George Macdonald's " Story of 
the Seeds " in " David Elginbrod," and the chapter 
on "Treasure-Boxes " in Jane Andrews' " The Story 
Mother Nature Told," and Hans Andersen's tale 
of " Five Peas in a Pod." 

C. S. P. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

PART I. 
Plays for January 17 

PART II. 
Plays for February 23 

PART III. 
Plays for March 29 

PART IV. 
Plays for April 34 

PART V. 
Plays for May 40 

PART VI. 
Plays for June 47 

PART VII. 
Plays for July 52 

PART VIII. 

Plays for August 58 

ix 



x CONTENTS. 

PAGB 

PART IX. 
Plays for September 67 

PART X. 
Plays for October 84 

PART XI. 
Plays for November . . . . . 97 

PART XII. 
PlAys for December 106 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

At play with sticks and peas . Frontispiece 
Vignette — " Soaked peas and little sticks " 1 6 
Initial — Express-wagon 
a drum-stick 



a pair of dumb-bells 
The box-bottom 
Ready for the top 
The box complete . 
The stick-and-pea cart 
One side of cart made " solid ' 
Initial — Kinds of peas 
The heart-and-arrow 
The hatchet 
The cherry-tree 
Plan of cherries 
Initial — Root-sprouts 
The snow-shovel 
The hockey-stick 
The sled . 

Top of sled made " solid " 
Initial — Top-sprouts 
The straight-line letter A 
xi 



17 

17 
iS 
18 
19 
19 
20 
22 

23 

24 

25 

27 
28 
29 
30 
31 
32 
33 
34 
35 



Ill ustra tions. 



The curved-line letter O . . . .36 
The name Mary, in stick-and-pea letters . 37 
The name John, in stick-and-pea letters . 37 
Plan of stick-and-pea alphabet ... 38 

Initial — Pea-blossom 40 

The hoe 42 

The Rake 44 

The wheelbarrow . . . . . . 45 

Initial — Pea-pods ...... 47 

The straight-line figure 4 . . . .48 

The curved-line figure 6 . . . .49 

Plan of stick-and-pea numerals ... 50 
The year Columbus discovered America . 50 
The year of Independence . . . .51 

Initial — Ripe peas 52 

The tent . . 53 

The Bunker Hill sword .... 54 
The flag and the flag-pole . . .55 

Plan of soldiers' camp 56 

Initial — Pea-marbles 58 

Plan of box part of house .... 58 

The plain easy house 59 

Plan of house with door and windows . 61 

Plan of end of house 62 

Plan of three-rail fence .... 63 

The gate 64 

The croquet set 65 

Initial — Stool 67 

The plainest chair 68 



ILL US TRA TIONS. xiii 

PAGE 

The dining-room chair 69 

Plan of parlor chair 70 

Plan of arm-chair and rocking-chair . 71 

The small table 72 

Table for dining-room or library . . 74 

Plan of hat-tree 75 

The sofa 77 

Plan of easel ....... 78 

Plan of box part of dressing-case . . 79 

The dressing-case 80 

The bed 82 

Initial — Boat-hook and anchor 84 

Plan of box part of hull .... 85 
Plan of hull complete . . . .85 

The yacht 87 

Plan of row-boat 90 

Plan of wheel-rim 91 

The bicycle 92 

Plan of saddle 94 

The pedals 95 

The forked frame 96 

Initial — Pumpkin 97 

Plan of stick-and-pea motto for Thanks- 
giving 98 

The carving-knife and fork ... 99 

The piece of pumpkin pie . . . .100 
The two turkeys that ran away . .102 

The wish-bone 104 

Initial — Tip of Christmas-tree . . .106 



ILL USTRA TIONS. 



Plan of easy star .... 
The " beautiful Bethlehem Star " 
Plan of box part of cradle 
Plan of rocker 

The Christ-cradle .... 
The Christmas-tree 



i 06 

ioy 
108 
108 
109 
in 



STICK-AND-PEA PLAYS 




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STICK-AND-PEA PLAYS. 



PART I. 




PLAYS FOR JANUARY. 

VERY child likes to make 
things. An easy way is 
to make them of peas 
and little sticks. A pint 
of peas and a handful of 
sticks will make many 

objects — and give a whole bushel of 

pleasure in the nursery. 

Green peas can be used in their season. 

Dry peas can be used all 

the year. Soak the dry 

peas in water over night, 

and dry them for an hour before using. 

They will then be so soft that the sticks 
17 



A DRUM-STICK. 




I 8 STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 

can be stuck into them easily, yet firm 
enough to hold the sticks in place. 

The sticks 
should be slender, 
about the size of 
a stout knitting- 

A PAIR OF DUMB-BELLS. ,, ^ , 

needle. Round 
sticks are best, and they should be pointed 
with a penknife. If the sticks prepared 
for kindergarten use cannot be had, any 
slender sticks will do — I have seen very 
cunning things made with common 
wooden toothpicks. 

A stick with a pea on one end makes a 
hammer, a cane, 
or a drum-stick. 

A short stick 
with a pea on 
each end makes a 
dumb-bell. A pair of dumb-bells, with 
the ends joined by two other sticks, make 
a square — or the bottom of a box, 




THE BOX-BOTTOM. 



PLAYS FOR JANUARY. 



19 



If you wish to make a box, stick four 
pointed sticks, upright, into the four peas 
at the corners of the box-bottom. Make 
the top like the bottom, place it on the 
four upright sticks, and press down the 
four peas of the top until the pointed 





READY FOR THE TOP. 




THE BOX COMPLETE. 



uprights stick into them. This com- 
pletes the box, as shown in the picture. 

Work at these little boxes until you 
can make them easily. Make small boxes 
and large boxes, square boxes and oblong 
boxes, deep boxes and shallow boxes. 

Be very careful in measuring, and cut 
your sticks just the right length. Be very 



20 



STICK-AND-PEA PLAYS. 



careful, too, in sharpening the points of 
the sticks, for a smooth round point can 
be thrust into a pea more easily than a 
rough irregular point, and with less dan- 
ger of splitting the pea. 

The box is the beginning of many 
objects — carts, wheelbarrows, houses. 




THE STICK-AND-PEA CART. 



If you want a little cart, make first an 
oblono- box. Let the end-sticks of the 
bottom extend through the peas a quarter 
inch. On these four ends slip four 
button-molds, or circles of cardboard, for 
wheels. Outside the wheels, on the tips 
of the sticks, put small peas, to keep the 



PL A YS FOR JANUARY. 2 1 

wheels on. When you make the box, slip 
a pea to the middle of one bottom end- 
stick. This middle pea is to hold a long 
stick for the handle. You can put a 
small pea on the end of the handle, with 
a little bar through it, as in the picture. 

A cart with a long handle is the kind 
of cart for a boy to draw about, with all 
sorts of loads — from stones to little 
sisters! But if you wish to make a cart 
for a horse to draw, you do not set a long 
stick into a pea on the middle of the 
lower end-stick. Instead, you have a 
pea near each end, and set a stick into 
each pea. These two sticks form the 
shafts — and if you have a tiny toy horse 
you can harness him in with a string, and 
snap a whip, and trot away to Make- 
believe Land. 

You can make several kinds of carts, 
simply by making several kinds of boxes 
to start with. A shallow box gives an 



22 



STICK-AND-PEA PLAVS. 



express-wagon, like that in the initial 
picture. A short high box gives a city 
coal-cart. A very long box gives a 
country hay-cart. 

You can also fill in the bottom, sides, 
and ends, of your cart, as shown by the 
dotted sticks and peas in the picture of 
one side, and so make them "solid" 
instead of " open." Then your cart will 
hold things — a load of peas, if you like. 



< W.:ti::ivmv.v:ttt'.:r:j:vj:sr( 



ONE SIDE OF CART 
MADE " SOLID." 



PART II. 

PLAYS FOR FEBRUARY. 

j, ^ ^ HE home country of the 

pea is thought to be 

q^. Greece, in the south of 

Europe. It was common 

in the gardens of the 

East lonor before the first 

Christmas Day in Bethlehem. To-day 

the pea is grown in gardens all over the 

world. 

There are now many kinds of garden 
peas, large and small, wrinkled and smooth, 
irregular and round. The smooth round 
peas make the best pea-work. 

When you get a pretty lace-paper valen- 
tine, with its hearts and arrows and doves 
and cupids, on February 14th, you will 
2 3 




24 STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 

like to make a heart-and-arrow with your 
soaked peas and little pointed sticks. 
This is the way. Take six short sticks, 

two longer 
sticks, and 
eight peas, 
' and put them 
together for 
the heart, as 
in the pic- 

THE HEART-AND-ARROW. ^^ j^ 

take a long stick for the arrow. Put a 
pea on one end for the head, and into 
this pea thrust two very short sticks, 
with small peas on the ends, for the 
barbs. Then thrust the other end of 
the arrow-stick through one of the side 
peas of the heart, so it will slant across 
the heart as in the picture. On this end 
of the arrow-stick slip three small peas, 
close together, and into these peas stick 
six very short sticks for the feathers. 



PLAYS FOR FEBRUARY. 2$ 

You can make the heart-and-arrow be- 
fore St. Valentine's Day, if you like, and 
put it in a tiny box, and give it to some 
little friend for a valentine. 

On February 2 2d, the birthday of Wash- 
ington, the Father of his Country, when 
papa tells you the hatchet story, about the 
little boy Washington and his father and 
his father's cherry-tree, you will want to 
make a hatchet, a cherry-tree, and maybe 
a bunch of cherries. 

The hatchet is quite easy. Take a 




THE HATCHET. 

long stout stick for the handle, and slip 
two peas on one end, a little apart. Then, 
with five short sticks and three more peas, 
make the blade and head of the hatchet, 



26 STICK- AND- PEA PLAYS. 

as in the picture. Finish the hatchet with 
a pea at the end of the handle. 

Young cherry-trees grow tall and slim, 
so for the trunk of your tiny Washington 
cherry-tree take a long stick. On the 
lower end press a large pea. Into the 
sides of this large pea thrust three sticks, 
equally distant from each other, and on 
the end of each slip a pea. You can call 
these three sticks the roots, and they will 
hold your make-believe tree upright, as 
real roots hold upright a real tree. Next, 
slip three peas on the trunk of the tree ; 
push one down toward the bottom, the 
second only a little way, and leave the 
third, a small one, at the very top. Into 
the lower pea on the trunk set two sticks 
for the lower pair of branches, and into 
the pea above set shorter sticks for the 
upper pair of branches. Both pairs of 
branches should slant up sharply. The 
upper pair should be set at right angles to 



FLAYS FOR FEBRUARY. 



2 7 



the lower pair. All four branches should 

have peas at the tips. Last of all, into 

the pea at the 

end of each lower 

branch set two 

short branches 

with small peas at 

their tips, as in the 

picture — and your 

cherry-tree will be 

complete. 

A pretty bunch 
of cherries is made 
in this way. Slip 
a stout stick, or 
two slim sticks side 
by side, through a 
big pea, for the 
twig. In the top of 
the big pea insert 
two or three leaves. To make a leaf, take 
a slim stick, make a sharp bend in the 




THE CHERRY-TREE. 



28 STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 

centre, and a slight bend in the middle of 
each half; then bring the two ends to- 
gether and thrust them into the pea, as in 
the " plan " of cherries. Wet the stick 
before bending, and bend carefully, so as 
not to break it apart. Unless the wood is 
very tough, it is best to cut V-shaped 
notches -at the three bending-places. 
Next, insert five sticks in the bottom of 
the big pea, for the stems of the cherries ; 
then slip five peas on the ends of the 
stems, for the cherries themselves. 

Red checkerberries are better than peas 
for the cherries, for they are the color of 
cherries — and, besides, you can pick and 
eat the checkerberry cherries. 




PLAN OF CHERRIES. 



PART III. 



PLAYS FOR MARCH. 



ITTLE people who are 

making play-objects with 

soaked peas and small 

<^pX— _J^ sticks will like to see 

<sJ0 how peas grow. 

This is the way to set 
about it. Cut a circle of cotton wadding, 
and let it float on the surface of a glass 
of water. On the wet cotton scatter a 
few peas. Also plant a few in a flower- 
pot. Place the glass and the flower-pot 
in a sunny window. Give the earth in 
the flower-pot water as well as sunshine. 

The peas on the wet cotton will swell 
very fast. In a few days they will begin 

to sprout. The first sprout will be smooth 
29 



30 



STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 



and white. This sprout is the beginning 
of the root of a new pea-plant. 

Next — watch for the sec- 
ond sprout! 

Some wintry day in March 
you will like to make, for 
pea-work, a snow-shovel, a 
hockey-stick, and a sled. 

For the shovel, take three 
short sticks, and two a little 
longer, the long ones for the 
sides. On one end of each 
side-stick slip two peas, on 
the other end one pea. Slip 
a pea to the middle of two 
of the short sticks. These 
two sticks form the top and 
the cross-piece just below, as in the 
picture. The plain stick forms the bot- 
tom. Now, for the handle, take quite a 
long stick, and thrust it through the 
middle pea at the top, into the middle pea 



THE SNOW- 
SHOVEL. 



h 



PLAYS FOR MARCH. 3 I 

of the cross-piece. Put a pea on the end 

of the handle ; through this pea thrust a 

very short stick, and slip a pea on each 

end of it. And, behold, you have a 

pretty play-shovel, to dig paths through 

the deepest drifts of play- 
er 
snow. 

The hockey-stick is very 
easy — a long stick with a 
pea at each end, and two 
short sticks and two more 
peas for the crook at the 
lower end. Only, be careful 
to set the short sticks at 
just the right slant to make 
a good curve. 

In building the sled, make 

first the top, with two long the hockey- 
stick. 
sticks, two short sticks, and 

four peas. Two more long sticks, with 
peas at the ends, form the runners. Con- 
nect the runners with the top by four very 



32 STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 

short upright sticks. You now have the 
top and sides of the sled. The pointed 
ends, at the back and the front, are each 
made of two sticks and one pea, as shown 





THE SLED. 



in the picture. If you like, you can let 
the runner-sticks extend beyond the back 
upright sticks far enough to form the 
bottom-sticks of the back ends. The front 
ends must slant upward, and the peas at 
their points must be connected by a stick. 
To this stick tie the ends of a cord to draw 
the sled by. 

Perhaps you would rather have a sled 
with a solid top, on which you can really 
draw things. If so, when you are building 



PLAYS FOR MARCH. 33 

it, slip peas all along on the end-sticks of 
the top, and then connect these peas by 
sticks like the side-sticks — as shown by 
the dotted peas and dotted sticks in the 
picture of the sled-top,, 

On a sled like this you can tie a tiny 
doll-boy coaster, and let him slide down 
hill. With a smooth board, or even a 
large geography, you can make a hill as 
steep as you like. 




TOP OF SLED MADE " SOLID.' 





PART IV. 

PLAYS FOR APRIL. 

HEN the smooth white 
root-sprout from a pea 
on the wet cotton is 
well started, the pea 
will split open. Then, 
if you watch, you will 
see another sprout appear. The new 
sprout will be rough and green, and will 
grow upward. This second sprout is the 
beginning of the top, or stalk, of the pea- 
plant. The little points along it will 
soon grow into green leaves. When 
the green leaves appear, the white root- 
sprout will begin to send out white root- 
lets along its sides, like branches along 
the trunk of a tree. 

34 



PLAYS FOR APRIL. 35 

But — do not yet stop watching the 
pea-plant. 

When big brother and sister go off 
to school, the little people in the nur- 
sery will find it good fun to make the 
letters of the alphabet with their sticks 
and soaked peas. 

If you look at the twenty-six letters of 
the alphabet, one by one, you will see 
there are two kinds of letters — straight- 
line letters, and curved-line letters. There 
are fifteen straight-line 
letters, and eleven curved- 
line letters. 

The first letter of the 
alphabet, A, is a straight- 
line letter. To make an 

A . 1 . . . i r THE STRAIGHT-LINE 

A, take two sticks ot letter a. 

equal length, and one 
about half as long, and five peas. Put 
a pea in the middle, and also on one 
end, of each long stick. Thrust the other 




36 



STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 



end of each into the fifth pea, connect 
the two middle peas by the short stick 
— and you will have the first letter of 
the alphabet. 

Some of the curved-line letters are all 
curves, like C and O ; others are partly 
curves and partly straight 
lines, like P and R. 

To make an O, take eight 
short sticks and eight peas, 
and put them together as 
in the picture. An O is 
a little taller than it is 
wide, so you will make a 
better O if the two side-sticks are a little 
longer than the others. 

After making A and O, you will like 
to make the letters of your name, and 
place them in the right order to spell the 
name — as the letters that spell MARY 
and JOHN are placed in the pictures of 
those names. You will also like to make 




THE CURVED-LINE 
LETTER O. 



PLA YS FOR APRIL. 



37 



the letters of your middle name, if you 
have one, and of your last name. If you 
are a little girl, you will wish to make the 




THE NAME MARY, IN STICK-AND-PEA LETTERS. 

letters of your doll's name ; and if you are 
a little boy, and have a dog, or a pony, 
you will wish to make the name of your 
dog, or the name of your pony. 

In the " plan " showing the stick-and- 




THE NAME JOHN, IN STICK-AND-PEA LETTERS. 

pea alphabet, -you will find all the letters, 
so you can make any name, and any word, 
you wish. 



38 STICK-AND-PEA PLAYS. 

You will need to look sharply at some 
of the letters, at G and K and Q — to 
see how G is finished by a little hori- 
zontal stick through the pea at the lower 
end of its great curve, which until then is 
like C — to see how the lower arm of K 



ABCDEFCHl 
JKLMNOPQR 
STUVWXY 

PLAN OF STICK-AND-PEA ALPHABET. 



starts from a pea on the upper arm near 
the upright stem — to see how the tail 
of Q starts from one of the two bot- 
tom peas, and, after running a little way 
into the great oyal, which is just like O, 
turns about and runs out through the 
other bottom pea. 



PLAYS FOR APRIL. 39 

When you have learned to make the 
letters easily and well, it will be a pretty 
surprise to make two P's and two A's, 
and place them in order by papa's plate, 
so that when he comes to dinner he will 
find there the word PAPA. 

Then, too, you can make the words of 
mottoes, such as TRY, TRY AGAIN — 
and mamma will put them up on the 
nursery wall. 




PART V. 

PLAYS FOR MAY. 

FTER the white root- 
sprouts and the green 
top-sprouts have grown 
from the peas on the 
wet cotton, you will find 
that the peas planted in 
earth have sent up stouter and greener 
stalks. 

As the roots of the pea-plant spread out 
underground, and gather more and more 
plant-food, the stalks will grow faster and 
faster — and pea-plants grow very fast in- 
deed. Watch one, and measure it morn- 
ing and night, and find out how much 
it grows in a day, how much in a night, 

how much in a week. 

40 



PLAYS FOR MAY. 4 1 

And now, if you will set up in the 
flower -pot a branching stick, you will 
shortly discover that the pea-plant is a 
vine. Look carefully at the leaves. Thejf 
are called pinnate leaves, from a Latin 
V10X&, pinna, meaning feather, because the 
leaves are set along both sides of a leaf- 
stem, as the soft parts of a feather are 
set along the quill or feather-stem. At 
the end of the leaf -stem, in place of a 
leaf, you will find slender curling tendrils 
— usually three of them, though some- 
times first a pair, then three further on 
at the tip. Now the pea-vine does not 
climb by winding about its support, like 
a morning-glory-vine. It climbs more as 
a boy climbs — it uses its tendrils as a 
boy uses his hands and fingers. See how 
the curling tendrils reach out and take 
hold of anything they can find ; and 
also see how, when they can reach noth- 
ing, they kink up into funny curlicues, 



42 STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 

as a boy doubles up his fingers into a 
fist! 

Then, some day, you will find at the top 
of your pea-vine a bud, perhaps a pair of 
buds, and the buds will open into blos- 
soms. The flowers of the garden pea are 
usually white, though some kinds are red. 

The garden pea's pretty cousin, the 
fragrant sweet pea, has larger flowers, and 




often three or four on a single stem. It 
blooms white and pink and yellow and 
blue and purple. The little girl who is 
fond of sweet peas will like to know that 
their home country is the beautiful land 
of Italy. 

Still go on watching the pea-vine, for 
after the blossom comes — what ? 



PLAYS FOR MAY. 43 

In May, when the big folks are working 
in the garden, spading and hoeing, raking 
and planting, the little folks will enjoy 
making play-tools with their soaked peas 
and slender sticks. 

A hoe is easy. Take two sticks for the 
top and bottom, and two half as long for 
the sides. Slip a pea to the middle of 
the top stick, then put the four together 
with four peas. The middle pea on the 
top stick is to hold the handle — and you 
can put a small pea on the end of the 
handle. 

A spade is very like a shovel, and you 
can make one in the same way as the 
snow-shovel described in the March plays 
is made, only the spade should not be 
quite as wide as the snow-shovel. 

If you want a rake, put five peas on a 
stick, the same distance apart — one at 
each end, one in the middle, the other 
two half way between. Take a long stick 



44 STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 

for the handle, and slip a pea a little way 
on at one end. Stick this end into the 




THE RAKE. 



middle pea of the five. Connect the pea 
on the handle with the peas on either side 
of the middle pea by two sticks. Then 
cut five very short sticks for the teeth of 
the rake, and stick one into the under side 
of each of the five peas. ' This rake will 
rake the soil in your little garden, or 
rake up hay in your little hay-field when 
haying-time comes, just as you like. 

Of course you will want a wheelbarrow. 
Make first an oblong box, a little narrower 
at one end than the other. Omit the top 
end-stick at the wide end. Have the bot- 
tom side-sticks long enough to project at 



PLAYS FOR MAY. 



45 



the wide end for the handles, and also 
at the narrow end to hold the cross-stick 
for the wheel. The wheel may be a 
wooden button-mold, or a circle of card- 
board. Cut the cross-stick exactly the 
right length, slip the wheel to the middle, 
and then slip a pea up against the wheel 
on each side to hold it in place. Put 
peas on the ends of the projecting bottom 




THE WHEELBARROW. 



side-sticks, and into these peas set the ends 
of the wheel-stick. The side end-sticks 
of the wide end may be long enough to 
also make the two lee's of the wheelbar- 



4-6 STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 

row, or two short sticks may be used for 
the legs. Put small peas on the ends of 
the legs, also on the ends of the handles — 
and your wheelbarrow will be complete, 
as in the picture. 

The bottom, sides and narrow end of 
the wheelbarrow may be made " solid," in 
the same way as the cart-body and sled- 
top described in the January and March 
plays — and then you can wheel loads of 
things in your stick-and-pea wheelbarrow. 




PART VI. 

PLAYS FOR JUNE. 

N the middle of the pea- 
blossom, as it withers 
away, you will see the 
beginning of the pea- 
pod. Soon the little 
pod will become a large 
pod, two, three, perhaps four, inches long, 
and half an inch or more wide. At first 
the pod will be thin and flat, then the 
tiny peas inside will round out, until, 
when full-grown, the plump pod will be 
as thick as it was wide. 

You can now, if you like, crack a pair 
of pods, and take out the green peas, and 
boil them for your doll's dinner. Dress 
the boiled peas with cream and a dash of 

47 



4 8 



STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 




salt and pepper — and you will enjoy din- 
ing with the doll yourself ! 

It will pay to watch the pea-vine a while 
longer — and see what the pea-pods do. 

When you shell the green 
peas for your doll's dinner, 
and you count them, one, 
two, three, four, five, or ten 
or more, you will want to 
make the figures that stand 
for these numbers. You 
can make them with your 
sticks and soaked peas. 

The ten figures, or numerals, like the 
letters, are made up of straight lines and 
curved lines. There are three straight- 
line figures, and seven curved-line figures. 
The straight-line figures are i, 4, and 7. 
The 1 and 7 are very easy. The 4 is a 
little harder. 

To make a figure 4, take first a stick 
for the upright line, and slip a pea one- 



THE STRAIGHT- 
LINE FIGURE 4 



PLAYS FOR JUNE. 



49 



third up from the bottom, and put one on 
each end. Next, take two shorter sticks, 
and one pea, for the slanting line and the 
horizontal line which form the triangle at 
the left of the upright line. Last of all, 
take a very short stick, with a pea on one 
end, for the short horizontal line at the 
right of the upright line. Put the four 
sticks and five peas together, as in the 
picture. If you are careful not to split 
the pea, you can make the 
two horizontal lines of one 
stick, thrusting it through 
the pea on the perpendic- 
ular stick. 

Like the letters, some of 
the curved-line figures are 
all curves, such as 6 and o; 
others are partly curves and partly straight 
lines, such as 2 and 5. 

The figure 6 is made of ten short sticks 
and ten peas, as shown in the picture. 




THE CURVED- 
LINE FIGURE 6. 



So 



STICK- AND- PEA PLAYS. 



The side-stick should be a little longer 
than the others, as in the letter O. The 



12345 
6yS30 

PLAN OF STICK-AND-PEA NUMERALS. 



figure 9 is like a figure 6 standing on its 
head. 

When you have made all the figures — 
the " plan " of the stick-and-pea numerals 
will show you how — you will enjoy put- 
ting them together so as to form interest- 




THE YEAR COLUMBUS DISCOVERED AMERICA. 



ing numbers and dates. You can make 
the number that tells how old you are. 



PL A YS FOR JUNE. 



51 



If you are over nine, it will take two fig- 
ures. You can make a 7 for the days in a 
week, 30 for the days in a month, 365 for 
the days in a year. 

A 1, a 4, a 9, and a 2, make the name 
of the year Columbus discovered America 
— 1492. 

A 1, two 7's, and a 6, make the name 
of the year of Independence — the year of 
the first Fourth of July — 1776. 




THE YEAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 



PART VII. 



PLAYS FOR JULY. 




peas, 
Then 



HEN the last pea-blos- 
som has faded, when 
the last little pea-pod 
has grown to a large 
pea-pod, and plumped 
out with full-grown 
the pea-vine will stop growing, 
the green stalk, and the green 
leaves with curlicue tips, and the green 
pods, will all turn yellow, and brown — 
and finally the dry pods will crack open, 
and the ripe peas will roll out! 

You have now watched the whole life 
of a pea ; and if you take one of the hard 
ripe peas and plant it, it will live that life 
over again, as peas have been doing for 

5 2 



PLAYS FOR JULY. 



53 



ages — first the root-sprout, then the top- 
sprout, then the pea-plant, with its blos- 
soms, pods, and peas. 

So, from seed to seed, grow all plants. 

When the bells ring in the Fourth, and 
torpedoes pop and crackers go bang, the 
little pea-players will want to set up a tall 
flag-pole, with a flag flying at the top — 
and also make a sword and build a tent. 




THE TENT. 



This is the way to build the tent. Put 
together four sticks and four peas as you 
did for the oblong box-bottom. Before 
joining the sides and ends, slip a pea to 



54 STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 

the middle of one of the end-sticks. Next, 
take four sticks, a little longer than the 
end-sticks of the bottom, and set one into 
the top of each pea. Slant the pair of 
sticks at each end so their upper points 
will come together, and on each of these 
double points press a pea. Then connect 



THE BUNKER HILL SWORD. 



these two peas by a stick as long as the 
side-sticks of the bottom — this makes the 
top of the tent, for a tent is like a three- 
sided, or triangular, box, resting on one 
side. Connect the pea which you placed 
at the middle of one of the bottom end- 
sticks with the pea above it, and this last 
stick will mark the opening where the 
tent curtain is pushed aside when soldiers 
go in or out. 

For the sword, take a long stick and 



PL A YS FOR JUL Y. 



55 



=CJ 



slip two peas on one end. The first you 
push on the length of the handle, the 
second you leave ^ ^ -^ 

at the tip. Two 
very short sticks, 
each with a pea at 
one end, will make 
the " guard " be- 
tween the handle 
and the blade, as 
in the picture. 
Put no pea at the 
end of the blade, 
as you want a 
sword with a sharp 
point — you can 
call it your Bunker 
Hill sword. 

When you want 
to raise your flag, 
build first a little frame to hold up the 
flag-pole. Make a square of four short 




THE FLAG AND THE FLAG- 
POLE. 



56 STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 

sticks and four peas for the bottom. Set 
four more short sticks into the tops of 
the peas. Slant these four sticks from 
the corners of the bottom to a big pea 
above the centre, forming a pyramid. 
Now thrust your tall flag-pole down 
through the big pea at the peak of the 
pyramid, and then slip two peas on the 
top, leaving one at the tip, and pushing 

the other 

C- down the 

■4 . width you 

^L— \ wish your 

\\ flag. Into 

S^ j^ each of 

A \ these peas, 

PLAN OF SOLDIERS' CAMP. ^ 0ne SlCie, 

set a stick, 
for the top and bottom of the flag. Con- 
nect the ends with a shorter stick and 
two peas — and your flag will be flying, 
like the one in the picture. You can 



A 



PL A YS FOR JUL Y. 57 

now throw up your straw hat and shout, 
" Hurrah for the Stars and Stripes ! " 

If you like, you can make a whole row 
of tents, and set the flag in front, and 
have a soldiers' camp, as in the " plan " 
— and then you can take your sword 
and play you are a little defender of 
your country. 



PART VIII. 



PLAYS FOR AUGUST. 



TLJT 






US 



—£> 



AVING set up a stick- 

and-pea tent on the 

Fourth, you will like to 

build, some vacation day 

in August, a stick-and- 

pea house. 

You had best build a plain easy house 

at first — just the four walls, under-pinning, 

roof, and chimney. 

You start with an 
oblong box, as in mak- 
ing the little cart, only 
the house-box should 
be much larger. The 
small " plan " shows the form of the box 
part of the house. Next, make an extra 
58 



PLAN OF BOX PART OF 
HOUSE. 



PLAYS FOR AUGUST. 



59 



bottom for the box, just the size of the 
first, and pin the corner peas of the 
second bottom to the corner peas of the 
first bottom with very short sticks. You 




THE PLAIN EASY HOUSE. 



can, if you like, let the four corner sticks 
of the house project through the bottom 
peas enough to stick into the peas of the 
extra bottom, instead of using short sticks 
to fasten it on. The second bottom 



6o STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 

really forms the underpinning, as you can 
see in the picture. 

The house is now ready for the roof. 
Into the four corner peas at the top set four 
sticks, about as long as the end-sticks of 
the top. Slant the pair of sticks at each 
end of the house until their tops touch, 
and on each double point press a pea. 
Now cut a stick just as long as the side 
of the house, put two peas, a little apart, 
at the centre of the stick, and then set it 
in place for the ridge-pole. This finishes 
the roof. The two peas in the middle of 
the ridge-pole are to hold the chimney, 
which is made of three short sticks and 
two peas. The chimney completes the 
plain easy house, as in the picture. 

If you are a very good stick-and-pea 
carpenter, or if papa will help you, you can 
build a house with a door, a door-step, and 
windows, as shown in the two " plans." 

In making the box part for a house with 



PLAYS FOR AUGUST. 



61 



door and windows, you should, before put- 
ting the box together, slip on the top and 
bottom sticks pairs of peas to hold the 
side-sticks of the door and windows, as in 
the " plan." Each window, with side-sticks 
extended to top and bottom of box part 




PLAN OF HOUSE WITH DOOR AND WINDOWS. 

of house, and with cross-sticks to make 
the panes, should be put together, then 
the lower ends of the side-sticks set into 
the peas ready for them, the roof lifted a 



62 



STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 




little, and the upper ends of the side-sticks 
put in place. The door should be made 

and put in place 
in the same way. 
Then the door- 
step should be 
built out. The 
"plan" of the end 
of the house shows 
how to put in 
place a triangu- 
lar gable window. 
If you like, you 
can let the upright 
stick project above the pea at the end of 
the " ridge-pole just enough to hold an 
extra pea for ornament. 

A very clever papa may build out the 
triple window, in the end of the house, 
into a bay-window — and I should not be 
surprised if he were to add a cunning 
veranda ! 



i ■ I 

1 


> 
1 1 


1 1 


■ 1 

1 1 


1 




1 


» « 


►— ! 1 


■I 


1 
















( _i 



PLAN OF END OF HOUSE. 



PLAYS FOR AUGUST. 



63 



And when the house is completed, it 
will be easy to build a three-rail fence 
around it, in the way shown in the " plan." 
A fence with one or more corners, or turns, 
will stand upright of itself. You can 




PLAN OF THREE-RAIL FENCE. 



make a gate that will stand by itself, by 
slipping short cross-sticks through the 
lower end-peas, and putting peas on the 




64 STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 

ends of the cross-sticks, as in the picture. 
Straight fencing can be made to stand up- 
right in the same way. In building the 
gate, in place of the middle rail, use two 

rails, running 
from the up- 
per to the 
lower corners 
and crossing 
in the centre. 
Also let the 
end-sticks project a little at the top, and 
on the tips put small peas for a finish. 
If you have a Noah's Ark, you can 
fence in pastures for the animals with 
stick-and-pea fences. 

After the hard work of house-building, 
you can take a handful of peas and go out 
on the smooth walk, or driveway, and 
scratch a circle, and have a game of 
marbles — ring-taw, or pyramid, or any 
game you play with real marbles. 



PLAYS FOR AUGUST. 



65 



And then, when you see the croquet- 
set on the lawn, with its gay mallets and 
balls waiting by the still gayer starting- 
post, you will want to make a croquet-set 
with sticks and peas. It is much easier 
than a house. 

For the starting-post (and the turning- 
post is just like it), take a long stick and 
put one pea on the end which is to be 
the top. Each 
wicket is made 
of two upright 
side-s ticks, 
with an arched 
top of three 
shorter sticks 
and four peas, 
as in the pic- 
ture. Big peas can be used for the balls. 
For each mallet you will need one long 
stick, one short stick, and four peas. 
Slip three of the peas on the short stick, 




THE CROQUET SET. 



66 STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 

one in the middle, one at each end, for 
the head of the mallet. Into the middle 
pea thrust one end of the long stick, for 
the handle, and on the other end put the 
fourth pea. 

If you are one of the happy children 
who have sand-tables, or if you can find 
a smooth sandy space out-of-doors, you 
can set up your posts and wickets, and 
really play a game of croquet. 



PART IX. 



PLAYS FOR SEPTEMBER. 




URN ITU RE is the next 
thing to think about, 
after you have built a 
house. Stick-and-pea 
furniture is easy to make, 
and pretty to look at 
after it is made and set in place. 

With one pea, and three short sticks, 
you can make a tiny stool — as in the ini- 
tial picture. That, surely, is easy enough 
for the very littlest pea-player of all. 

Then you can have your choice of 
chairs, plain chairs for chamber and 
kitchen, heavy dining-room chairs, high- 
backed parlor chairs, arm-chairs, rocking- 
chairs — any one, or all of them. If you 
6 7 



68 



STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 



have a doll-house, you will want to make 
all kinds, a set for each room. 

The very plainest chair is made of two 
long sticks, seven short sticks, and six 
peas. The two long 
sticks form the sides of 
the back, and also the 
back legs. Put a pea 
on the end of each — the 
end which is to be the 
top. Slip a pea up from 
the bottom end of each 
as high as you wish the 
seat. Connect the two 
peas at the top of the 
back, and also the two at the seat, with 
sticks as long as you wish the width of 
the chair. Next, build out the seat, with 
three short sticks and two peas. Last of 
all, set the front legs into the under side 
of the peas at the front of the seat, and 
you will have a simple chair, as in the 




THE PLAINEST CHAIR. 



PLAYS FOR SEPTEMBER. 



6 9 



picture — a chair proper to place in your 
doll-house chamber, or kitchen. 

The dining-room chair should be heav- 
ier, of course. So, when you make the 
back, put two extra peas on each side, 
one near the top, one just above the 
seat. Connect these extra peas by two 
cross-sticks. Also slip 
a pea a little way. up 
on each leg, and con- 
nect these four peas 
by four short sticks. 
This will give you a 
fine heavy chair for 
the dining-room, as in 
the picture. 

The parlor chairs 
may be made in the 
same way as the dining-room chairs, only, 
to make them handsomer, you should let 
the side-sticks of the back project just 
enough at the top to hold an extra pea, 




THE DINING-ROOM 
CHAIR. 



70 



STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 



a small round one, as shown in the 
" plan " of the parlor chair. 

The arm-chair is made 
in the same way as the 
parlor chair, only the 
back should be wider, 
and the seat larger. The 
back need not be quite 
as high — you can omit 
the upper cross-stick. 
To make the back of 
the arm-chair easy to the 
backs of the little gentle- 
man dolls who may sit 
in it, you can let it slant backward. If 
the side-sticks will not bend easily, and 
stay bent, you can use two short sticks 
for the back legs, and two other sticks 
for the sides of the back, setting them 
into the peas of the seat at a slight angle. 
Put an extra pea on each back side-stick, 
to hold the top arm-stick. In making the 




PLAN OF PARLOR 
CHAIR. 



PLAYS FOR SEPTEMBER. 



n 



arm-chair, let the front legs project above 
the seat as high as you wish the arms ; 
put a pea on the top of each ; and then 
connect these peas with the extra peas on 
the side-sticks of the back, thus form- 
ing the arms, as shown in the "plan" of 
the arm-chair. 

The rocking-chair 
may be made just like 
the arm-chair, and the 
rockers then added. 
The single rocker 
shown by the dotted 
sticks and peas, on one 
side of the " plan " of 
the arm-chair, will tell 
you how to make the 
pair of rockers of real sticks and peas. 
Should the little lady dolls like a higher 
back, to rest their heads against when 
tired, you can make a back like the high 
back of the parlor chair. 




PLAN OF ARM-CHAIR 
AND ROCKING-CHAIR. 



72 



STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 



You can make the seats of all the chairs 
" solid," for the little doll people to sit on, 
and the backs "solid," for the little doll 
people to lean against, in the way the 
sled-top was made solid, and as shown by 
the dotted sticks and peas in the " plan " 
of the parlor chair and in the " plan " of 
the arm-chair. 

Even a doll-house should have several 
kinds, and several 
sizes, of tables. 
You had best be- 
gin with a small 
simple table for a 
chamber. Take 
four sticks for the 
legs, put a pea on 
the top, and one a 
little up from the 
bottom, of each. Connect the four top 
peas by four sticks, and the four lower 
peas by four other sticks. Last, make 




THE SMALL TABLE. 



PLAYS FOR SEPTEMBER. 73 

the top " solid," as shown by the dotted 
sticks and peas in the picture of the 
small table. 

For the sitting-room table, made in the 
same way, you can slip the lower peas a 
little higher, and make a " solid " shelf, 
like the " solid " top. This will be very 
convenient, for holding daily papers and 
magazines, such as " The Doll-World 
News," and "The Make-Believe Maga- 
zine," and " The Rockaby Review." 

By using quite short sticks to connect 
the legs, you can make a very small table, 
or " stand." 

When you build the dining-room and 
library tables, put two peas, instead of 
one, at the top of each leg, and connect 
the pairs of peas by pairs of sticks. In- 
stead, also, of connecting the four lower 
peas by four sticks around the outside, 
join them in pairs by two longer sticks, 
crossing each other, and passing through 



74 STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 

« 

a pea, at the centre underneath, as in the 
picture. This gives room for the feet 
when sitting at the table. The top should 
be made " solid," as shown by the dotted 




TABLE FOR DINING-ROOM OK LIBRARY. 

sticks and peas at one side in the picture. 

A hall table, to stand against the wall, 
may be made like the dining-room or 
library table, only instead of being square, 
or nearly so, it should be quite narrow — 
about half as wide as it is long. 

In the hall, too, should stand a hat-tree 
— and a stick-and-pea hat-tree is both 



PLAYS FOR SEPTEMBER. J$ 

easy to make and pretty to see. Take 
a long stick, put a large pea on the 
lower end, a common-sized pea above 
and close against it, another near the 
top, and a fourth at the very tip-top. 
Into the big pea at the bottom, set three 
short sticks with peas at the ends. These 
three sticks should slant 
down, to form the feet (per- |^ 
haps I should say " roots," it 
being a " tree " !), or triangu- 
lar base supporting the 
standard — as in the " plan." 
Into the pea near the top, 
set six still shorter sticks, 
also with peas at the ends. 
These six sticks should be 
horizontal, and equally apart, 
to form the arms (perhaps I should say 
" branches," it being a " tree " !), on which 
to hang things. If a gentleman-doll 
caller wears a high hat, it can be hung 



PLAN OF HAT- 
TREE. 



j6 STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 

on the very tip-top of the standard it- 
self. 

I shall let the little pea-players invent 
and build the umbrella rack all by them- 
selves — and it may be square, or oblong, 
or triangular, to fit in a corner, or round, 
with top and bottom made like the 
letter O. 

In the parlor, you will of course want 
a handsome sofa. Now a sofa is very like 
an arm-chair, only very much wider — just 
as if an arm-chair were india-rubber, and 
you should take it by the sides, and stretch 
it to right and left, until all the horizontal 
lines running from side to side were two 
times, three times, four times, as long as at 
the start. But sticks are not india-rubber, 
so the sticks running from side to side, 
or end to end, of your sofa must be four 
times as long as those of a chair to start 
with. 

In the sofa, as in the chair, two sticks 



PLAYS FOR SEPTEMBER. 



77 



form the sides of the back, and also the 
back legs. On each stick put six peas, 
three near together at the top, one at 
the bottom, one at the seat, one just above 
the seat. The peas at the top are for 
ornament. Connect the pairs just below 




THE SOFA. 



by a pair of long sticks ; also connect the 
peas at the seat, and those just -above. 
Next, build out the seat, and the tops of 
the low arms. Last, put in place the 
front legs, which should extend above the 
seat to form the fronts of the arms, and 
which should have peas at the lower end 



78 



STICK-AND-PEA PLAYS. 



like the back legs. The dotted sticks 
and peas, in the picture, show how to 
make the back " solid," and how to build 
up an ornamental centre. 
The seat may be made 
" solid" by sticks running 
from end to end. 

A row of six baby 
dolls sitting on a stick- 
and-pea sofa is a cunning 
baby-show. 

If you have a cute 
little picture which you 
would like to stand on 
an easel in your doll-house parlor, you can 
make the easel of sticks and peas. Take 
two long sticks for the sides, and put five 
peas on each, one at the top, one at the 
bottom, one toward the top, two toward 
the bottom, as in the " plan." The top 
and bottom peas are for " finish." Connect 
the others by short cross-sticks, the lower 





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1 








J / 

1 1 
1 / 

I 1 

I / 

' 1 
1 1 

I 

1 J 

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PLAN OF EASEL. 



PLAYS FOR SEPTEMBER. 



79 



longer than the upper, as the easel should 
be wider at the bottom than at the top. 
The upper cross-stick should have a pea 
at its centre. Into this pea set a long 
stick for the brace, or back part of the 
easel, with a pea at its end. From the 
upper of the two lower cross-pieces, build 
out a little shelf, with two very short sticks, 
two peas, and a third stick as long as the 
cross-piece. On this shelf stand the cute 
little picture. 

The young-lady dolls will want a fine 
dressing-case, with a 
laro;e mirror. Now the 
part of a dressing-case 
which holds the draw- 
ers is really a high 
wide box — like that 




PLAN OF BOX PART 
OF DRESSING-CASE. 



shown in the small 

" plan." Build first this 

box part of the dressing-case. The front 

upright sticks should have three extra 



8o 



STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 



peas, between the top and bottom peas, 
and these extra peas should be con- 
nected by sticks, to mark off the drawers, 
as in the picture. The back upright sticks 

should extend 
high above 
the drawers, 
to hold the 
mirror, and 
each should 
have a pea 
near its top. 

Make the 
mirror of four 
sticks and 
four peas, with 
an extra pea 
at the middle of each side-stick. Hold 
the mirror in place, and slip a very short 
stick in from each side, through the pea 
on the upright stick and into the middle 
pea on the side of the mirror. The mirror 




THE DRESSING-CASE. 



PLAYS FOR SEPTEMBER. 8 1 

will now hang upright, or tip forward or 
backward — so the young-lady doll can 
see if the skirt of her gown hangs right, 
or if her back hair is coiled and pinned as 
it should be. 

At the end of the day, and the end of 
the furniture, comes the bed. 

Build first the head of the bed. Take 
two sticks for the sides, or posts, and put 
six peas on each, at the points shown by 
the picture. Cut five sticks as long as 
you wish the width of the bed, and with 
them connect the peas on the two posts, 
beginning with the bottom peas — the top 
pea on each post is left for ornament. 
Next, build the foot of the bed. Take 
two short sticks for the sides, or posts, 
and put three peas on each, as in the 
picture. Connect the peas on the two 
posts with sticks just as long as the con- 
necting sticks in the head of the bed. 

Now cut four sticks as long as you wish 



82 



STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 



the length of the bed, and join the head 
and the foot by two of these sticks on 




THE BED. 



each side, connecting the two lower peas 
on the posts. Each upper side-stick should 
have a pea near the head end, and a short 
stick should run from this pea to the pea 
next higher on the head of the bed. These 
two short sticks serve as braces, and as a 
pleasing " finish." The frame of the bed 
is now complete. 



PLAYS FOR SEPTEMBER. 83 

The lower side-sticks may be joined by 
" slats," as shown by the dotted sticks and 
peas at the head end. The head and the 
foot of the bed may be made " solid," by 
filling in with sticks and peas, as shown 
by the dotted sticks and peas at one side 
of each. 

And then you can " make up " the bed, 
and put your tired doll's nightgown on, 
and tuck her in, and say, " Good-night ! " 




PART X. 

PLAYS FOR OCTOBER. 

OATS and bicycles be- 
long to boys — or used 
to, I should say — for, 
nowadays, the little sis- 
ters ride as bravely as 
the little brothers. 
The little sisters do not yet scrawl pic- 
tures of war-ships on every scrap of paper 
— tremendous war-ships, with tremendous 
smoke billowing up from tremendous can- 
non! — but I should not be surprised if 
they soon should take to sailing toy 
boats, toy canoes, toy yachts, and even 
toy war-ships. 

Anyway, the little pea-players, sisters 
and brothers both, will like to make a 
8 4 



PLAYS FOR OCTOBER. 



85 



PLAN OF BOX PART OF HULL. 



play-yacht, and a play-bicycle, with their 
sticks and peas. 

In building the yacht, begin with the 
hull. Make first 
a long shallow 
box, omitting 
the upper end- 
stick at the stern 

end, and putting a pea on the middle of the 
upper end-stick of the bow end, also one 
on the middle of the lower, as in the first 
" plan." The middle peas are to hold the 
mast. Next, build out the sharp bow, with 




PLAN OF HULL COMPLETE (DOTTED PARTS BEING THOSE 
WHICH COULD NOT BE SEEN IF HULL WERE SOLID). 



four horizontal sticks, one perpendicular 
stick, and two peas ; and then build out 
the blunt stern, with four shorter horizon- 



86 STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 

tal sticks, one perpendicular stick, and two 
peas. This completes the hull of the 
yacht, as in the second " plan." 

Now cut a long stick for the mast, and 
put one pea a short distance up from the 
bottom, and two peas, a little apart, near 
the top. Set the mast upright, by thrust- 
ing the lower end down through the two 
peas placed for it, and bend the tip at a 
right angle for a flag, as in the picture. 
Also set a short stick into the upper pea 
at the prow, to serve for bowsprit and jib- 
boom. 

The yacht is now ready for its sails. 
Into the lower pea on the mast, set a long 
stick with a pea at its end, running out 
horizontally over the deck and a little be- 
yond the stern. This is the boom, which 
holds in place the bottom of the mainsail. 
Into the lower of the two peas at the top 
of the mast, set a shorter stick, slanting 
upward, with a pea at its end and another 



PLAYS FOR OCTOBER. 87 

near the end. This is the gaff, which 
holds in place the top of the mainsail. 
Connect the pea at the end of the gaff 




THE YACHT. 



with the pea at the end of the boom by a 
long stick. This finishes the mainsail. 

You can connect the pea nearest the 
top of the mast with the pea near the end 



88 STICK -AND -PEA PLAYS. 

of the gaff by a cord, as shown by the 
dotted line, to represent the rope holding 
the gaff in position. You can also run a 
cord from the end of the boom to the 
stern of the yacht, as shown by the dotted 
line, to represent the rope which controls 
the swing of the boom. Very queerly, the 
sailors call this rope a " sheet," the main- 
sheet — though you would think "sheet" 
a better name for a sail than a rope. 

We will now " go forward," as the sail- 
ors say — in front of the mast, toward the 
bow of the boat. And here, we will first 
connect the pea at the end of the bow- 
sprit, or jib-boom (the jib-boom is really a 
spar at the end of the bowsprit, making it 
longer), with the pea near the top of the 
mast from which the gaff starts. This 
stick must have a pea a little up from its 
lower end, and this pea you connect by a 
horizontal stick with the lower pea on the 
mast from which the boom starts. The 



PLAYS FOR OCTOBER. 89 

triangle thus made is the jib, or triangular 
sail in front of the mast. 

Now your yacht is completed, and, if 
you will make another, you can play at 
the great yacht races between England 
and the United States — and if you can 
find a tiny acorn-cup, you can play it is 
the silver cup the yacht America won 
from England years ago, which is called 
" the Americas cup," and which is still the 
prize for which the fastest yachts of the 
two nations are raced. 

If a boat with sails is too hard for you 
to build, and you would like to make a 
simple row-boat instead, or if you can 
build the yacht and would like a row-boat 
too, you can make it like the hull of the 
yacht, and stop there. Only, in making 
the row-boat, you omit, not only the upper 
end-stick at the stern end of the "long 
shallow box," but also the other upper end- 
stick. You also omit the middle pea on 



90 STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 

the lower end-stick, as there is to be no 
mast. 

You can build a seat, half as high as the 
sides of the boat, as shown by the dotted 
seat in the " plan " of the row-boat. You 
can also have a pea, with two short sticks 
set into it like a V, on each of the upper 
side-sticks, near the seat, for the tow- 




plan OF ROW-BOAT. 



locks, to hold the oars, as shown in the 
" plan." And any little boy with a jack- 
knife can whittle a pair of tiny oars. 

You can also -make a boat-hook, and an 
anchor, of sticks and peas, in the way 
shown in the initial picture. 

The older pea-players will be able to 
build the bicycle alone, but the younger 
ones may need the help of papa, or a big 




PLAYS FOR OCTOBER. 9 1 

brother who has a real one of his own — 
and that will make it the more fun. 

In building the bicy- 
cle, make first the two 
wheels — that is what 
the word bicycle means, 
"bi " means two, and 
" cycle " means circle or 

PLAN OF WHEEL-RIM. 

wheel. The rim of each 
wheel is like the letter O, as in the " plan," 
only the eight sticks that join the eight 
peas are of equal length. The eight spokes 
that run from the hub to the rim are also 
of equal length. Take a large pea for the 
hub, set into it the eight spoke-sticks, the 
same distance apart, put a pea on the end 
of each, and join these peas by the eight 
rim-sticks. 

In making the front wheel, let one 
spoke project its own length beyond the 
rim. Put two peas at the end of this stick, 
and one a little outside the rim. In mak- 



9 2 



STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 



ing the back wheel, let one spoke project 
about three-fourths its own length beyond 
the rim. Put one pea at the end of this 
stick. 

Now place the two wheels in position, 
and connect the pea on the end of the 




THE BICYCLE. 



projecting spoke of the back wheel, by a 
long stick, with the lower of the two peas 
on the end of the projecting spoke of the 
front wheel. This forms the top of the 
frame. Next, set into the hub of the back 
wheel a long stick, running toward the 



PLAYS FOR OCTOBER. 93 

front wheel, and slanting slightly down. 
This stick should project about half the 
length of a spoke beyond the rim, and 
should have a very large pea at its end. 
This very large pea is the lowest point of 
the frame, where the pedals are. Con- 
nect this pedal pea by a long stick with 
the pea at the back end of the top of the 
frame, and by another long stick with 
the pea next the rim on the projecting 
spoke of the front wheel. This completes 
the frame — and, if you will look at the 
frame sharply, you will see that the main 
part, including the projecting spokes, is 
diamond-shaped, with the forward point 
clipped off ; and that the great diamond is 
divided into two triangles, with the tip of 
the front and larger one clipped off. 

You can run a cord from the hub of 
the back wheel to the pedal pea, around 
it, and back again, for the chain, as shown 
by the dotted line in the picture — or you 




94 STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 

can omit the cord and play it is a " chain- 
less " bicycle. 

The seat, as shown in the "plan," is made 
of three sticks and three peas forming a 
triangle, with a fourth stick 
running in beyond the centre 
from the forward point, and a 
fourth pea on this fourth stick 
at about the centre of the 
triangle. Hold this seat in 
place, and run a short stick down through 
the pea at its centre, into the pea at the 
back end of the top of the frame. 

The handle-bar is made of two sticks, 
with peas at their ends, set into the pea 
above the front end of the frame. These 
sticks should slant a little back, to make 
the curve of the handle-bar. This com- 
pletes the bicycle, as shown in the picture. 
Now a bicycle will not stand upright 
of itself, except when running — and I 
doubt if your very smartest doll, even 



PLAYS FOR OCTOBER. 



95 



your boy doll, will be able to ride this 
bicycle. So you best run a stick through 
one of the lower peas of each wheel. 
These sticks, with peas at their ends, as 
shown by the dotted sticks and peas in 
the picture, will hold the bicycle upright. 

This stick-and-pea bicycle looks very 
well, you will think, but, after all, it is a 
little like a paper doll ! — 
a paper doll may look as 
thick and as round as a 
china doll, from one point 
of view, but from another 
you see it has only the 
thickness of cardboard. 
In like manner, the side- 
view of this bicycle is 
better than the front or 
back end-view. 

If you are very skilful, though — you 
and papa — you can set even this right. 
You can build out a pedal each side of 




THE PEDALS. 




g6 STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 

the pedal pea at the bottom of the frame, 
as shown by the picture of the pedals. 
And you can make a double or forked 
frame, back and front, within 
which the wheels will really turn, 
as shown by the picture of the 
double or forked frame, with 
hub and two spokes of wheel 
in place. But, even with these 
improvements, I doubt if any 
doll will ever ride a stick-and- 
O pea bicycle as fast as you ride 
forked your own real bicycle. 

In the fall, if you live in the 
country, you can gather the red berries 
of the black alder, or winterberry, and 
use them in place of peas — and your 
stick-and-berry objects will be very gay 
indeed. 



PART XI. 



PLAYS FOR NOVEMBER. 




HE little pea-players who 
have played the April 
plays, and made the 
letters of the stick-and- 
pea alphabet, will re- 
member that the letter T 
is one of the easiest of the twenty-six. 

You slip three peas on a stick, one in 
the middle, one at each end. You take a 
second stick, a little longer than the first, 
if you like, and slip a pea on one end, 
then thrust the other end into the middle 
pea on the first stick. That is all. The 
letter T is the first letter of a happy 
day — Thanksgiving. 

Thanksgiving Day is Thankful Day. 

97 



9 8 



STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 



You can go on, after making the letter T, 
and make all the letters of " Thank- 



mA 



v^DAY 

PLAN OF STICK-AND-PEA MOTTO FOR THANKSGIVING. 

ful Day," as in the "plan." And then, 
when you go to grandma's for Thanks- 
giving — of course you always do go to 
grandma's for Thanksgiving — you can 
take them with you, and grandma will put 
them up on the wall for a Thanksgiving 
Day motto. 

For grandpa, you can make a carving- 
knife and fork. The handle of a carving- 
knife should be very stout, so for this you 
take three sticks, hold them close together, 
and press a good-sized pea on each end. 
The blade is made of one long slim stick 
bent twice, as shown in the picture, the 
two ends being brought nearly together 
and thrust into the pea at the end of 



PLAYS FOR NOVEMBER. 



99 



the handle. Cut the stick half through 
at the two bends, and also wet it at those 
points, so it will not break in bending. 

The fork handle is made in the 
same way as the knife handle. Into 
the pea at the end set a very short stick, 
with a pea at its end ; and into this last 
pea slip two slender sticks for the tines. 




THE CARVING-KNIFE AND FORK. 



Of course grandma will have pumpkin 
pie — grandmas always do have pump- 
kin pie at Thanksgiving — and it will 
please her very much to see a stick-and- 
pea piece of pumpkin pie. You can ask 
her to look on while you make it. 

Begin by setting two long sticks into 
a pea, at a V-shaped angle, to form the 



IOO 



STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 




straight sides from the centre to the rim 
of the pie. Next, put a pea on the rim 
end of each stick. Then, with three short 

sticks and two peas, 
make the curved rim. 
Last of all, present 
the stick-and-pea 
piece of pumpkin pie 
to grandma — and 
see if she does not 
put it away in some 
safe secret place, 
and keep it until Thanksgiving comes 
again ! 

And after the jolly great dinner, when 
grandpa, with a twinkle in his eye, tells 
you the story he likes to tell, about the 
two turkeys that ran away on Monday of 
Thanksgiving week and never came back 
until Saturday, you can give him a sur- 
prise. You can ask him to hold out his 
hand, and then you can take two stick- 



THE PIECE OF PUMPKIN 
PIE. 



PLAYS FOR NOVEMBER. IOI 

and-pea turkeys out of your pocket — run- 
ning turkeys, like the two in the picture 
— and place them, one ahead of the other, 
on grandpa's hand. And, oh, how grandpa 
will laugh, and call grandma, and every- 
body, to see ! 

Of course you will have to make the 
turkeys beforehand. This is the way. 
Select the very largest pea you can find 
for the body — some of the large wrinkled 
peas, like the " Champion of England," 
soak out well for this purpose — or you 
can take a green cranberry in place of 
a pea. If the pea or the cranberry is a 
little oblong, all the better. 

Now insert in one end of the body- 
pea a stick for the outstretched neck, and 
on the end of this put a pea for the head, 
and into the head-pea set two short sticks 
like a bill wide open — for of course the 
turkeys gobbled when they ran away. 

Next, insert in each side five sticks 



102 STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 

for the spread wings. These wing-sticks 
should be graded in length, and placed, 
as in the picture. (The picture shows but 
one wing.) Then insert five sticks for the 
spread tail, as in the picture. (The pic- 
ture shows the middle and longest tail- 
stick, and two others on the nearer side ; 




THE TWO TURKEYS THAT RAN AWAY. 

the two on the further side should be 
graded in length, and placed, in the same 
way.) 

Last, insert two sticks for the running 
legs, one forward, one backward, and each 
with a pea at its end for the foot. And 
then — but, wait, we must not forget the 
odd tuft of hair the turkey wears on his 
breast. Insert a short stick for this, and 



PLAYS FOR NOVEMBER. 103 

then — then your run-away turkey will be 
complete. 

Oh, Thanksgiving Day is a day of 
delights ! And at last, at the end of the 
afternoon, the proud possessor of the big 
turkey's wish-bone, which grandma has 
dried to just the right brittleness, calls 
upon all to get their wishes ready for 
the pulling. 

And if you are a lot of merry young 
cousins, and a girl-cousin holds the wish- 
bone, the boys draw lots for their cham- 
pion — or, if a boy-cousin holds it, the 
girls draw lots for theirs. And then all 
think the wishes they wish, while the girl- 
cousin and the boy-cousin stand out, fac- 
ing each other, holding the wish-bone, and 
waiting the signal from grandpa to pull — 
and, oh, what a shout goes up when the 
wish-bone snaps, and the wish-winner holds 
up the larger part in triumph, and you 
know which side has won ! 



104 STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 

And after that comes the fun of telling 
the wishes, as grandpa calls you up in the 
order of age. 

And when you have pulled the real 
wish-bone, you can 
make another of 
sticks and peas— two 
or three of them — 
as many as you like 
— as -many as there 
are cousins of you, 
so that each may 
have a wish-bone of 
his own. 

THE WISH-BONE. „, . . . 

lo make a wish- 
bone, take six sticks of about equal length, 
and another half as long ; also six middle- 
size peas for the two sides, a very big pea 
to hold the two sides together, and a little 
pea to go at the end of the short stick at 
the top. The picture will show you just 
how to put them together. 




PLAYS FOR NOVEMBER. 105 

One name for the wish-bone is " merry- 
thought " — because you think of happy 
things in wishing. And my wish is that 
always, whether winners or losers at the 
pulling, your really good wishes may all 
come true. 



PART XII. 



PLAYS FOR DECEMBER. 




N the Christmas month, the 
pea- players everywhere 
will like to make a Beth- 
lehem Star, a Christ- 
cradle, and a Christmas- 
tree. 
An easy star, for the littlest pea-players, 

is made of one big pea, five small peas, and 

five short sticks. You set 

the five sticks into the hip; 

pea, in a row around it and 

equally apart, and then you 

put the five small peas on 

the tips of the five sticks, as 

in the "plan" — and the star is made. 
The older pea-players will want to make 

106 




PLAN OF EASY 
STAR. 




PLAYS FOR DECEMBER. IC>7 

a larger star. Take five longer sticks and 

six peas, and put them together as before. 

Then join each pair of peas at the tips by 

two shorter sticks and 

one pea in the form of 

a very open V, as in the 

picture. This makes a 

beautiful Bethlehem 

Star, to hang at the 

centre of a Christmas the « beautiful beth- 

LEHEM STAR." 

wreath of evergreen, or 

to set at the tip of a Christmas-tree. 

(This star is five-pointed, like the star 
Washington chose for our flag — when 
the first flag was made, and the thirteen 
white stars of the Thirteen States first 
shone out in a circle on the field of blue — 
and so it is also a good star to make on 
Washington's Birthday, and the Fourth of 
July, and all patriotic days and times.) 

In building the Christ-cradle, make first 
an oblong box — and by now you know 



108 STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 

all about making boxes ! Cut the upper 
end-sticks a little longer than the lower, as 




PLAN OF BOX PART OF CRADLE. 

in the " plan," so that the box, or body of 
the cradle, will be widest at the top. 

Next, make one of the rockers, as in 
the rocker " plan." One stick, with a pea 
at each end, and two between, makes the 
straight top of the rocker. Three shorter 
sticks, and two more peas, make the curved 
bottom of the rocker. The middle stick 
of the bottom of the 
V. J f s* rocker should be just 

^ *r the length of the 

PLAN OF ROCKER. ° 

lower end-stick of the 
box ; and the two inside peas on the top 
of the rocker should be exactly over the 



PLAYS FOR DECEMBER. IO9 

peas at the ends of the middle bottom- 
stick. Connect the peas at the ends of 
this bottom-stick with those over them by 
two short upright sticks, letting the ends 
project a little at the top. These two 
projecting ends are to stick into the two 
peas at the end of the box bottom, to 




THE CHRIST-CRADLE. 



hold the rocker on, as in the picture. 
Make the other rocker in the same way, 
and set the two in place. 

Now build up the head-board, with four 
sticks and three peas. Set two of the 



IIO STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 

sticks into the upper end-peas of the box, 
slanting inward, and put a pea on the end 
of each. Into these peas set the other 
two sticks, slanting still more inward, 
until they meet in the third pea at the 
top. Build up the foot-board in the same 
way. 

Last of all, connect the top pea of the 
head-board with the top pea of the foot- 
board by a long stick, with three peas 
close together at its middle. 

I have called this cradle the Christ- 
cradle, because it is shaped like those 
used in Palestine, the Christ-land — and 
so the little Christ-child may have slept 
in one like it. The mothers in the Christ- 
land hang strings of beads, and tiny bells, 
and toys, from the long rod at the top, for 
the baby to reach up and play with. 

Christmas-trees in churches and homes, 
unless they are very small trees growing 
in pots or tubs, have no roots to hold 



PLAYS FOR DECEMBER. 



Ill 



them up, so a frame is built for that pur- 
pose. In the same way, when you make 
your stick-and-pea tree, build first a little 
frame to hold it 
up. This frame 
may be a pyramid- 
shaped frame, like 
that built to sup- 
port the flag-pole 
in the July plays, 
and as also shown 
here in the pic- 
ture of the Christ- 
mas-tree. 

Down through 
the pea at the peak 
of the pyramid, 
thrust a long stick 
for the tree-trunk. 
On this slip three peas, and put a small 
one at the tip-top. Next, into each of 
the three peas on the tree-trunk, set 




THE CHRISTMAS-TREE. 



112 STICK- AND -PEA PLAYS. 

four sticks for branches — the longest 
four into the lower pea, the shortest four 
into the upper pea. Then put peas on 
the ends of all the branches for gifts — 
and your Christmas-tree will be complete, 
as in the picture. 

The little pea-players who live in the 
country, and know where checkerberries 
grow, can gather the spicy red berries, 
and put them on the tips of the branches 
in place of peas — they will be prettier, 
and also really good to eat. The little 
pea-players who live in the city can use 
tiny raisins for the gifts. 

Such a tree is a pretty Christmas pres- 
ent for a doll — and you can be the doll's 
Santa Claus. 



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